Chapter 5

Textile Fiber and Fabric

Production

Textile Fiber and Fabric Production

Textiles is a broad term referring to any
material that can be made into fabric by any
method.
Fibers are hair-like materials, either natural or
manufactured, that form the basic element of
fabric and other textiles.

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Natural Fiber Production

Natural fibers are derived from either plants or animals.
Cotton is the worlds leading textile fiber, comprising about 41
percent of world fiber production.
Flax is the base component of linen, which makes up less than
1 percent of the world fiber production.
Ramie is a vegetable fiber stronger than flax, often combined
with cotton to soften it.
Wool fiber is a renewable source from animals, representing 2
percent of world fiber production.

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Natural Fiber Production

Silk, associated with the finest garments
accounts for .2 percent of world fiber
production.
All natural fibers except silk are short staple
lengths.
Silk is a long filament.

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Man-made Fibers

Rayon, or viscose, was patented in 1884.

Synthetics denotes all chemically produced fibers.
All man-made fibers start as long filaments
Production takes place in large chemical companies
who leverage mass production techniques.
Over 50% of world fiber production is man made
now, as compared to 22% in 1960.

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Man-made Fibers
Regenerated cellulose fibers are derived
principally from wood pulp.
Rayon, the first man-made fiber is composed of
regenerated cellulose.
Lycoell is a new solvent spun cellulosic fiber
produced, like rayon, from wood pulp.
Acetate and triacetate are alternatives to rayon.

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Man-made Fibers
Synthetic fibers are made from derivatives of
petroleum, coal, and natural gas.
Nylon, polyester and acrylic are long chain
polymers.
Spandex, can stretch 300 to 400 percent without
breaking and return to its original length.
Polypropylene is an olefin made from polymers
and can be used for moisture transport in high tech
active wear garments.

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Textile Yarn and Fiber Producers

Approximately 4,600 apparel related textile
plants employ 432,000 people domestically.
Textile mills produce yarns and fabrics.
Converters do only the finishing stages of
production.

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Yarn Production
Yarn production is the next step after fiber
production.
Filament yarns are continuous, smoother,
shinier and more uniform than spun yarns.
Spun yarns are either natural fibers other than
silk or cut man-made fibers.

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Fabric Production

Fabric is the material or cloth made from natural or man-made yarns using
one of the following methods:
Weaving, layering warp and fill yarns, with three basic types of weaves:
Plain
Twill
Satin
Knitting, with one continuous yarn broken into two kinds of knits:
Weft
Warp
Nonwoven fabrics where yarns are bonded or interlocked using
mechanical, chemical, thermal, hydro or solvent.

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Dyeing
Some of the most important dyeing methods are:
Producer, used for man-made fibers still in the solution.
Stock, loose fibers before yarn processing.
Yarn, used to dye certain woven patterns before weaving or
knitting.
Piece, dyeing a piece of fabric after weaving or knitting.
Cross, an inexpensive way to achieve two color patterns.
Garment, after the entire garment has been made.

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Printing
Applies design to fabrics via either wet or dry
techniques.
Wet, where dyestuffs are applied wet for optimum
color penetration.
Engraved roller printing
Screen printing
Flatbed
Rotary screen

Dry, where either heat transfer or paper printing

techniques are used.
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Finishing
The process used to enhance a fabric usually after
dyeing or printing
They can be physical:
Calendaring, the passing of fabric between heavy rollers for
various effects
Heat setting, to stabilize man-made fabrics
Napping, to raise surfaces
Shearing, to create uniform surface
Sanding or sueding, to create a soft surface
Shrink control, or preshrinking
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Finishing
Or Chemical:

Caustic reduction to give polyester a silk like feel

Decatizing to stabilize wool fabrics
Durable press, or permanent press
Mercerizing to give cotton a lustrous silk like finish
Water repellency

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Environmental Concerns
Encouraging Environmental Excellence, or E3, is a program
urging producers to protect the environment.
Decreased water use and chemical waste is the goal
American and European textile companies have difficulty
competing against Asian mills where producers do not pay to
clean up the environment.
Domestic manufacturers want to require imported textile
products to be made under the same environmental standards to
ensure fair competition and ensure a clean environment
worldwide.

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